1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus or a memory cartridge system, more specifically to an information processing apparatus or a memory cartridge system which is adapted to a home-use game device or a home-use karaoke device, for example, and processes a program stored in the memory cartridge when the cartridge is attached.
In addition, the present invention relates to a memory cartridge which is adapted to such the information processing apparatus or the memory cartridge system.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As conventional information processing apparatuses, there were apparatuses in which a so-called watch dog timer was provided in order to prevent a trouble which was caused at a time when a processor ran out of control, and the processor was reset immediately after an error was detected.
However, in the prior art, the processor was re-started after being reset because the processor was only reset while its power was still being supplied. Therefore, in such an information processing apparatus which processes a program stored in a detachable memory cartridge, there was a possibility that data in an internal memory is destroyed when the processor ran out of control as a result of extracting the memory cartridge.
That is, even if the processor was reset at a time of the out-of-control, the processor ran out of control again due to the re-start after the reset because the memory cartridge still remained extracted. Then, the processor is repeatedly reset and rendered out-of-control, and the data stored in a rewritable non-volatile memory inside the information processing apparatus or a backed-up memory was destroyed due to an error process in a case of the out-of-control.